Tiered Pricing on Tickets....

[zebrastreyepz]

Honestly, does anyone look at ticket prices and go, "I'm not going at such-and-such a time because it's cheaper to go at this other time?"

I don't.

I look at when I can go and plan accordingly.

Iger saying that tiered pricing is good for guests is ridiculous. When he says it's good for the company, he's correct.

 

[Nimbus]

If people have the option of going during various times of year or are weighing going at different times of the year, then I could see it pulling them in the direction of the cheaper ticket dates. The lower priced tickets are for lower crowd times, so that would be good for guests as it would help ease congestion in the parks. I agree, though, that that is not the approach most people take to planning their vacation. For most of us mere mortals, our work schedules, school schedules, and activity schedules dictate feasible vacation times, not ticket prices.

 

[mom2rtk]

Iger saying that tiered pricing is good for guests is ridiculous. When he says it's good for the company, he's correct.

I'd respect that a heck of a lot more.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

Honestly, does anyone look at ticket prices and go, "I'm not going at such-and-such a time because it's cheaper to go at this other time?"

I don't.

I look at when I can go and plan accordingly.

Iger saying that tiered pricing is good for guests is ridiculous. When he says it's good for the company, he's correct.

I do think people take pricing into consideration (along with other factors) when planning dates for their trips. We went the week before Christmas last year and our resort was far less than what it would have been if we went Christmas week (and far less crowded). I also pick dates based on flight prices and I know people who will go before their child(ren) turn 3 to avoid purchasing tickets (and dining plans) for them.

As for the statement that this is "good for guests", yeah, I agree, kind of ridiculous! I don't think any guest ever thinks raising prices is "good" for them, LOL!

 

[fla4fun]

I have trouble wrapping my head around how tiered multi day tickets would work. I have looked at the calendar for the one day tickets and there are a lot of weeks where Monday through Thursday are one price and Friday through Sunday are another. So let’s say you are here for seven days. Do you only buy a four day pass because those days are cheaper (and go to Universal or Sea World the other days)? Do you now have zero flexibility in case of illness to switch your Thursday for Friday? Not everyone has a vacation week that runs Monday through Friday (for example, my work week is Saturday through Tuesday, so my vacation “week” runs Wednesday through the following Friday). I have an AP, so I don’t have a dog in the fight, but I can see a lot of problems trying to plan a trip without the flexibility to move things around if needed.

 

[sponica]

Lower resort prices probably drive me more than lower ticket prices...in my head Disney park tickets are already bonkers expensive, so I try to steer myself to a lower price on the resort calendar (when feasible).

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

I pay no attention to tiered pricing because I would not just get a 1 day ticket nor would I buy at the gate.

 

[zebrastreyepz]

I pay no attention to tiered pricing because I would not just get a 1 day ticket nor would I buy at the gate.

This is moving to multi day passes.

 

[zebrastreyepz]

I forgot to include this link...sorry: http://www.wdwinfo.com/news-stories...or-multi-day-tickets-according-to-disney-ceo/

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

This is moving to multi day passes.

Hmm then it MAY determine when I go but it may not because I go when I want to go.

 

[Mom2Stitch]

Lower resort prices probably drive me more than lower ticket prices...in my head Disney park tickets are already bonkers expensive, so I try to steer myself to a lower price on the resort calendar (when feasible).

Yes this is how I feel too. We figure out when we want to go and then start trying to figure out a resort that's acceptable in price and I refuse to book without a discount of some kind, which has never been an issue, but those are not as generous recently as they have been in the past. Ticket prices are what they are unfortunately. There are many choices in where to stay, even if it's off site. Not much we can do about the tickets, except to stop going altogether.

 

[gatorlisa]

Count me in as one who wonders how this is going to work when part of your stay is one classification and part is another. Will you have to pay for the cost of the most expensive part of your stay? In which case it just becomes a global price hike. My trips have traditionally been long weekends, where I might be there Thursday - Saturday. If Thursday and Friday are "regular/normal" and Saturday is "peak", then do I end up having to pay peak pricing just because 1/3 of my visit is at a peak time? I guess time will tell, but even without any details, I don't see how this is good for guests in any way.

 

[SaintsManiac]

If we had not decided to only do WDW on APs from now on then, yes, I would look at pricing and go when it's cheaper. Same as when I look at hotel rates.

 

[Elsaalltheway]

He was talking out the side of his mouth. When he said it was good for customers, he was talking about their bottom line. The sad part, the peak times of summer are always crowded, last year they didnt exend any hours, and now they are going to charge them more. I thought they already got a tax break from the president, I didnt know they were trying to dip into the pockets of people with children and have kids that go to school. Because when school is out is their peak times. Way to hit the working family twice. Oh and just an FYI I don't have kids.

 

[Robo]

Consider what this means for "locals."

If it's cheaper to go "next week," then it would be more attractive to go next week.
That can make a difference on crowd level.

 

[Elsaalltheway]

Consider what this means for "locals."

If it's cheaper to go "next week," then it would be more attractive to go next week.
That can make a difference on crowd level.

Most locals get the Annual passes, so unless they start tiering them anymore then what they already are. I don't know how it will really effect them.

 

[ShadeDK]

Although we don't know the details of any tiered multiday tickets, the single day tickets might give us a hint - where regular tickets are about 10% higher than value tickets and peak tickets are about 20% higher than value tickets. If that's what it ultimately looks like, it will affect when some people go (or if they can go). By way of example, a 5-day ticket at peak season would be about $80 more expensive than one at value season. For a family of 4, that would be close to an extra $400 for tickets to go at peak season. That very much could be a deal breaker for many.

As for the mechanics of how the pricing would work when multiday tickets bridge different tiers, I see two possibilities:

1) Tickets are purchased for specific dates and priced accordingly.
2) The system "credits" you with a certain number of days in each tier based on your anticipated visit dates but those credits can be used on any day (so long as you have a credit in that tier on the day you visit).

I don't see the first one happening, but the second is very confusing. Wanna know what's more interesting? Both of those scenarios would take a huge bite out of the ticket reseller market (which currently can just buy and resell anytime multi-day tickets - that gets trickier under a tiered system - and steers you towards buying direct from Disney).

 

[fla4fun]

I don't see the first one happening, but the second is very confusing. Wanna know what's more interesting? Both of those scenarios would take a huge bite out of the ticket reseller market (which currently can just buy and resell anytime multi-day tickets - that gets trickier under a tiered system - and steers you towards buying direct from Disney).

Some resellers don’t pre-purchase tickets in bulk. They are linked into Disney’s computer system and issue on demand just the same as Disney’s gate CM’s do. They would have no trouble selling the tiered products. It may be that more of the resellers will move to that mode of sale to remain competitive.

It may make it more difficult for people buying last minute to comparison shop, and that could work in the resellers favor. It’s not like someone can quickly compare between websites if everyone has different products. Unscrupulous resellers could sell peak tickets when a guest has a trip that spans regular and peak seasons and it will be more difficult for the average consumer to realize it (they may not even realize it’s a possibility). I’m sure Disney won’t have a problem allowing you to use a higher price day ticket on a lower price day.

It will be very interesting to see how this plays out.

 

[randumb0]

I don't think it will be difficult to make it work. If you purchase a peak season multi day pass then that means you can go on any day including peak, non peak etc. If you use it on a value day then that is your choice. A value season pass will only allow you to enter on value days.

 

[rpb718]

The issues surrounding multi-tiered ticket prices isn't necessarily tied to picking your dates paying for your tickets for whatever tier/dates you chose, it's what happens when you need to alter the trip and reschedule. Could be adding a day at the beginning or end, or pushing it out a week or a month or longer due to various circumstances. What if the weather is bad and the parks are closed on the "lower" (or "higher") priced day you expected to go and now need to use a down day where you weren't going to a park and that is priced at a different tier. Say you had paid for the higher tier and the only other day you could go was in the lower tier or vice-versa.

How about when Hurricane Irma came to town last fall. Many folks ended up rescheduling their existing trips for which they already had tickets around their family's schedules and holidays/vacations. Now imagine trying to reschedule around your family's schedule AND the available dates for the tiered tickets you purchased.

It'll be interesting to see how they implement this.